VINTAGE JOSS WEST
EIGHT POINT EBONY AND MAPLE
WITH IVORY AND PINK IVORY WOOD
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This cue is representative of the best work Bill Stroud was doing in the early nineties. It's a stained maple cue with ebony points - four long and four short - a design and look that he liked very much at the time.
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It's dressed up with lots of ivory and pink ivory wood, with a heavily inlaid butt sleeve and fancy rings. This cue was bought around 1992 from John Wright, and is still in mint condition, having been kept in a private collection all these years, unplayed.
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He uses the pink ivorywood in lots of small inlays, as well as in the rings, for the most part outlined in ivory.
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Pink ivory wood is a rare wood which grows on the west coast of South Africa, and it is a protected species. It is an especially hard wood, dense and heavy. The actual pink ivory wood trees are strictly sustained and maintained, and are only felled through the use of a strict permit system.
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This cue came from a private collection, and is still new and unused, in spite of being 30 years old. It is a prime example of the best work of Josswest in the early nineties. It was first pictured in the photos of legendary cue sell John Wright.
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With the possible exception of the butt cap, everything white on this cue is ivory. I say "possible" because Bill often used an ivory-like material in his butt caps to add more durability, and it's very difficult to distinguish it from the real thing.
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The butt sleeve is loaded. He starts by inlaying large pink ivory wood ovals with white ivory borders. The he inlays a series of white ovals over top of those, and then inlaying pink ivory wood diamonds in each of those. It's a complex, rich pattern and very, very impressive.
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Each ring is made up of a series of stylized "diamonds" of pink ivory wood with a dot of real white ivory in the middle. These are one of my favorites Stroud ring patterns.
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A few more views of the beautiful nose in this classy cue.
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At the time this cue was made, it was very popular to stain the maple in cues. This one is very typical.
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It has a beautiful black lizard wrap, as nice today as it was when it was put on 30 years ago. It looks great on this cue.
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As with most of his cues at the time, he built it with a stainless steel piloted joint with a 5/16X14 pin. It comes with the two original 13mm maple shafts with ivory ferrules, both still unplayed. I believe the tips are original, and look to be LePros. It weighs 19.5 ounces.
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At the time he made this cue he was engraving his "JW" logo in the weight bolt, with the date and an identification number.
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This is a rare, vintage example of some of the best of Stroud's work in the early nineties. Finding one this fancy, this old, and still in mint condition is a real treat ... and a unique opportunity. Josswests have really found their place in the ranks of collectible cues these last few years, and they never stay in our inventory for long. Don't pass this one up!
PRICE: $6750 PLUS SHIPPING
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